Mitigating overconfidence bias: A cross-sectional pilot study of male maintenance workers in the engineering sector

Introduction: Overconfidence is understood as the susceptibility to cognitive error caused by overconfidence in one's own means and a lack of awareness of one's own limits. The purpose of the work is to investigate the level of overconfidence in 186 maintenance workers and identify those most at risk of injury based on certain characteristics such as gender, age, educational qualification, and task performed. Methods: The study was conducted among the employees of a large metalworking company in central Italy over a three-months period. The validated questionnaire of Cavazza & Serpe was administered, on a voluntary basis, used for data collection, and subsequently descriptive analysis was carried out for data interpretation. Results: The study surveyed 184 male maintenance workers (response rate: 81.1%). Workers over 51 years old showed higher negative emotions toward safety procedures (SP) and greater intention to transgress, though actual transgressions were low. Living arrangements and education influenced attitudes, with workers living with others reporting higher control (p=0.032) and those with high school diplomas showing more positive attitudes (p=0.018). Transgressive behavior correlated with reduced moral norms, positive emotions, and control (all p<0.001). Negative attitudes toward SP were linked to higher transgression rates, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions to improve safety adherence. Discussion: The results obtained are useful for planning training activities, targeted on the critical aspects that emerged, first of all on overconfidence bias, aimed at reducing injuries in the workplace. Take-home message: Our findings highlighted the opportunity to propose training activities aimed at reducing accidents in the workplace by intervening in a positive way on attitudinal categories found to be more at risk of overconfidence. Based on the results obtained, specific training activities on attitudes and emotions toward safety procedures and PPE, as well as self-assessment and overconfidence risk, should be implemented for maintenance workers.